Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1024px

Time. Space. Grace. Rock. Death. Life. Love. Welcome, my Tragic Toyboxers to yet another timeless mega-cast! Time for another revealing look at our otaku outlook, another animated moment to read or die, another intricate instant to travel through a temporal labyrinth, another warmth embrace in the arms of an autumn night, and another screaming rush of the rock-band spotlight! Fair enough? Foul enough? Well, then, ready or not, worthy or not, crazy or not, it’s time to kick-off the show!

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L – Change the World (Live Action, 2008) | Enlarge 1400px

Heyyy, what’s up? Have you A, B, or C? Maybe D, E, or F? Did you G, H, and I? Or perhaps J, K, and L? Ahh, the last one? I thought so. L it is! Well, my Triaxial Toyboxers, for this weekly mega-cast, we’ll lick and lisp along liquid lines of logic, we’ll limp and lag atop layers of digital celluloid, and we’ll flail and falter upon luscious flows of flesh and lust, lol. Will you last long against the luminous lashes of lightning? Or will you languish and linger into elliptical listlessness? Behold! Lift yourself from your lazy slumber and behold! Another mega-cast shall be unleashed!

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Code Geass R2 | Click to enlarge wallpaper

Ah, finally caught up! Yup, over the last 5 days, caught up with the last 18 weeks of “Code Geass R2″ (scheduled for about 26 episodes). Still such an ambitious and wide-sweeping storytelling scope! And just like the supernatural chess-match strategies in “Death Note”, still one of the most-intellectually engaging 5-star series in recent years. But if there’s any downside to such a broad tapestry of characters, it’s the relative lack of any resonating emotional depth among specific characters… so far. Thankfully, now that I’m caught up, the threat of spoilers has been drastically reduced, hehe. ^_^

However, while “Code Geass R2″ and Lelouch have been magnificent, a half-hour anime can’t compete with the best one-hour live-action sci-fi dramas on television.

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Kanon | Fave Drama!

Happy New 2008, my fellow anime fanatics!… Back in my Blog 061, I noted that I watched 58 anime titles-seasons in 2006. While I couldn’t match that number in 2007, watching 49 is still freakin’ huge (or frakin’ huge, for BSG fans), lol. That’s almost one anime title or season per week! From the war-torn and tragic 1988 classic film Grave of the Fireflies to the wind-blown and melancholic 2007 Shinkai film 5 Centimeters Per Second. From the heart-breaking Kanon to the hilarious Lucky Star to the haunting Kino’s Journey.

Needless to say, 2007 was an amazing year for both old-and-new anime watching! Maybe I’ll hit 60 in 2008, hahaha!… Now, without further delay, here are my speed reviews for all 49 of the anime titles-seasons I’ve finished in 2007.

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Photo 2438b-2478 by xJAYMANx | Click for all 65

Finally! Full photoshoot is finally ready! As I teased in my previous Blog 118 > The Joy of Sepia, this month we welcome my latest “Death Girls” — 1/6-scale “Morte from Noir et Blanc” (Toranoana, June-July 2007) obtained in August 2007, and 1/6-scale “Misa from Death Note” (Jun Planning, June 2007) obtained in September 2007.

For this Canon photoshoot, I ended up with 65 shots, taken with the backdrop of a Japanese cemetery. And for the first time, I experimented with sepia! May not sound like much, but as my brother observed, anime and sepia aren’t usually associated with each other, right? In any case, I really like the Gothic atmosphere created with a simple change in color and contrast. I hope you do too. Enjoy the rest!

Warning > I recommend Firefox or Safari since IE 6/7 tends to break under the photo pressure, argh.

Otakurl it! >>
My Anime Figure List >>
Click for Full Photoshoot (65) >>

Photo 2422 by xJAYMANx | Misa from Death Note | Click to enlarge

Sepia! When I saw my friend Lena‘s “Mad Elephants” sepia photos in her LiveJournal, I had to do it too, lol. So I tried it with my “Death Girls” photoshoot taken earlier this month — my 1/6-scale “Morte from Noir et Blanc” (Toranoana, June-July 2007) obtained in August 2007, and 1/6-scale “Misa from Death Note” (Jun Planning, June 2007) obtained in September 2007. Hmmmm, I think their gothic outfits match the sepia style quite nicely! Their full photoshoot coming soon!

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Photo 2292 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge
Can’t wait for her photoshoot, lol.

Wow, more than two months since my last collection update! Unfortunately, my 17 boxed figures have grown to 23. Argh, too busy for photoshoots! Nevertheless, here are my latest 7 of those 23 still-boxed figures, including Morte the Death Bringer (Noir et Blanc), Misa (Death Note), and the genuine-not-fake Gothloli Asuka (Evangelion), as well as characters from the breathtaking Kanon and Air series. Enjoy the rest of the photos!

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Exploring New York City | Click to open

Hey folks, I’m back! Sorry for the 2-3 week absence, but I’ve had tons of New York City photos to resize and organize for my website. While the wedding photos are protected behind a login (I’ve given some of you the login info), here are two of the photo sets I can show you, haha! These photos were taken in the morning and afternoon, mere hours before my brother’s wedding, at the Apple store, Nike store, and a Japanese bookstore. So enjoy the NYC sunshine!

Death Note (2006)

+++++ Death Note (1-37) – Started 08/01/07. Finished 08/12/07. D-WOW! Mesmerizing crime games and aspiring death gods! Mind-blowing and heart-stopping! 5 stars!

Kano, Minagi and Misuzu from Air (2005)

++++ Air (1-13) – Started 08/08/07. Finished 08/11/07. WOW. Amazingly gentle and windblown summer beauty. Tearfully unforgettable. Another masterpiece from Director Tatsuya Ishihara prior to “Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” and “Kanon“. 4 stars (max for half-season)!

Sora from Kaleido Star (2003)

+++++ Kaleido Star – S1 (1-26) – Started 04/06/07. Finished 07/22/07. D-WOW! Fantastically funny and chilling, yet realistically inspiring and heartbreaking! 5 stars!

Haruhi from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006)

[Second Viewing; Chronological] ++++ Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (1-14) – Started 07/15/07. Finished 07/20/07. WOW! Still uniquely, unconventionally and fearlessly entertaining! Even better in chronological order, lol. 4 stars (max for half-season)!

[First Viewing; Broadcast Sequence] ++++ Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (1-14) – Finished 10/26/06. WOW! Uniquely unconventional!